| Licious | |
| Type: | Private |
| Founded: | [1] |
| Location: | Bangalore, India |
| Founders: | Vivek Gupta Abhay Hanjura |
| Industry: | Retail |
| Services: | Online grocer |
| Revenue: | (FY23) |
| Profit: | (FY23)[2] |
| Num Employees: | 6,000 (2024) |
| Parent: | Delightful Gourmet Pvt. Ltd |
| Area Served: | India |
Licious is an e-commerce service that sells seafood and meat, in addition to ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat products.[3] It is operated by Delightful Gourmet Private Limited and headquartered in Bangalore. It was launched in 2015 by Abhay Hanjura and Vivek Gupta.[4]
Vivek Gupta and his friend, Abhay Hanjura started Licious in 2015.[5] It is operated by Delightful Gourmet Pvt. Ltd.[6] [4] [7] In 2021, Licious became India's 29th unicorn of the year and India's first direct-to-consumer (D2C) unicorn.[5] [8] [9] In October 2022, Licious launched direct-to-consumer, plant-based meat brand, UnCrave.[10] [11] [12]
In September 2015, Licious received $1 million in seed investment from former Infosys Board member and CFO T. V. Mohandas Pai.[13] In 2016, Licious received $3 million investment from Mayfield Capital and 3one4 Capital. Next year Licious raised $10 million investment from existing and new ones including Mayfield India, 3one4 Capital, Sistema Asia Fund and Neoplux Technology Fund.
In 2018, Licious raised $25 million investment from Bertelsmann India Investments and Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, UCLA, also invested in the company, along with Mayfield India, 3one4 Capital, Sistema Asla Fund and InnoVen Capital. In the same year they received $25 million funding from Japan's Nichirei Group. Existing Investors 3one4 Capital, Bertelsmann India Investment, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, UCLA and Sistema Asia Fund.[14]
In 2019 Licious raised $30 million funding from Singapore based Vertex Growth Fund. Existing investors including 3one4 Capital, Bertelsmann India Investments, Nichirei Corp, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia, and Sistema Asla Fund.
In 2021, Licious received $192 million from Teamsek and multiple private equity. In the same year they received $52 million funding from IIFL AMC, Avendus Future Leaders Fund and became India's first direct-to-customer Unicorn.[15]
As of March 2023, Licious operates across 20+ cities in India,[16] serving over 1.2 million orders every month. It has processing centers located in Bangalore, Mumbai and Gurugram.[17]